Jean Tanner/For Bluffton Today A basket of fresh steamed oysters is emptied on the table.

Whether you are a resident of the Lowcountry or a visitor to the area, by January or February you probably will have participated in an oyster roast somewhere.

During the winter months, oyster roasts are often held as fundraising events for various reasons, from helping different clubs meet their goals to raising money for a person in need.

It’s hard to turn down the opportunity to attend an oyster roast, especially when all the work is being done by someone else: Procuring the oysters, setting up the tables with oyster knives, gloves, hand towels, saltine crackers, cocktail sauce, a favorite beverage, and last but not least, putting the fire to the oysters to open them up.

Some folks will throw a sheet of tin over a couple of cement blocks on each end, get a good fire going with wood beneath it, place a layer of oysters on the hot tin covered by a wet burlap sack and in a few minutes they will be steamed, popped open and ready to eat. Another method is to use a large pot with a basket specially made to steam oysters and other crustaceans over an open flame. The professional caterers will also have their own way of steaming oysters, too.

Some folks, eating an oyster for the first time, might be a little leery at first, but after the first one slides down your throat leaving a salty but sweet taste in your mouth the next one is a piece of cake, and the next, and the next, just as long as you can open one.

The best thing for the novice oyster eater to do, especially if they tend to be on the squeamish side, is to concentrate on how good the oyster tastes and not think about its technical makeup because a graphic description could be a little disarming.

The oyster is actually a small sea animal with a soft fleshy body that has a mouth with tiny finger-like projections that filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, taking many plant and animal organisms to eat. The oyster also has a good-sized stomach connected with the mouth by a short gullet, a digestive gland, an intestine, a dark green liver, reproductive organs, two pairs of gills for breathing, a two-chambered heart and a simple elementary nervous system. Sometimes, we don’t need to know everything about a food to enjoy it.

Oysters are man’s most valuable seafood, containing the water, protein, fat and ash that are found in all meats and fish food, but they also contain a percentage of carbohydrates, starches and sugars. Oysters are tasty, not only roasted but also in stew, broiled, fried, scalloped or used in dressing for fowl.

Now, with the water temperature dipping to mid-40 degrees, oysters are reaching their peak of sweetness and succulence, so bring on those fundraising oyster roasts.